Electrocatalytic water oxidation enabling the highly selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde

Abstract

An electrooxidation strategy mediated by reactive oxygen species is proposed to realize the transformation of styrene to benzaldehyde on a Pt anode, with a high selectivity of ca. 89% and faradaic efficiency of 28.8%. Isotopic labelling, electron paramagnetic resonance and radical scavenging experiments revealed that OH˙ and O₂⁻˙ species, formed in situ via anodic water oxidation, play a crucial role in the selective formation of benzaldehyde.